Kid Nichols

Charles “Kid” Nichols played 15 seasons in the majors and notched 360 victories over that span, still ranking among the game’s all-time winners.

Nichols was an immediate success, and after being signed by Boston in 1890 he won 20 or more games every year for his first 10 seasons, relying almost completely on his fastball throughout his career.

As a rookie, Nichols led the Beaneaters with 27 wins. He also posted a 2.23 ERA to go with 47 complete games and a National League-best seven shutouts. The right-hander notched 30 victories in 1891 when his team won the pen-nant. In 1892, he went 35-16 winning two games in the league’s championship series when they beat Cy Young and the Cleveland Spiders. In total, Nichols helped Boston to five league championships in his first nine seasons with the club.

When the pitching distance went from 50 feet to 60 feet, six inches in 1893 — though it took a toll on his strikeout total — Nichols still went 34-14 and helped the Beaneaters to another title. Nichols led the NL in wins for three straight years from 1896 to 1898 and he won 30 or more games a record seven times, a mark that is likely to stand forever, since the implementation of five-man rotations, pitch count and inning limits.

Kid found the most success in 1898 when he posted a 31-12 record. He completed 40 of his 42 starts and had five shutouts, walking only 85 batters in 388 innings. He posted a 2.13 ERA, the second-best of his career.

The righty completed a total of 532 games out of the 562 he started during his time in baseball. He threw more than 300 innings in every season but three, and pitched more than 400 five times.

When his playing days were done, Nichols remained a part of the sport, managing both the Oshkosh Indians of the Wisconsin-Illinois League in 1908 and the Bonham Sliders of the Texas-Oklahoma League in 1914.